Collateral and Hookah Hill in Itaewon

No, it's not what you think. A hookah is an Arab smoking pipe a thinga-ma-jiggy (um, not to PC of me, but no idea what to call it) and the hill was the incredibly steep stairs we had to scale to get up to Ali Baba, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Itaewon. (Not the notorious Hooker Hill where your climb is interrupted by working ladies trying to entice you into their lair.)

More on that later. First, I saw Collateral yesterday in a theatre. Sure, the 8,000 won (7USD) it costs was more than a bootleg copy of the DVD (which was available in Korea before it came to theatres here), but it was worth it. Michael Mann is a great director (especially men and guns, but not so well directing women, as Jordan pointed out). Heat was fantastic and based in L.A. as well, and Collateral was quite good too.

The one problem with it was I had seen all of the trailers and interviews and knew what the plot was, and even the ending 'surprise'; so it seemed like I had already seen it before...but still the action was good. Also like Heat (which I saw last on the bus on the way to Geoje-do) , some of the scenes were in Koreatown--I thought it was just subtitles at first, but it was actually neon signs in Hanguel. Cool. There were even Koreans in the plot. I remember when Japan was at its apex and Japanese were in every movie's plot: Die Hard, Rising Sun, Black Rain...and now Korea is getting there--of course Team America (one I have yet to see, but apparently will not be shown here) is probably not the best portrayal of Korea and Die Another Day had a fair bit of backlash from both Koreas.

Anyways, here's a shot for you: as reported, many urinals here have little pics and paintings to look at while gentlemen do their business. The theatre was no exception.


My view while doing business in Sinchon.

On the way back home I snapped this pic of some spraypainting on the road...a rather strange sight.


Um, did a dog or something die here? Where's CSI?

And some more graffiti in the subway station (well, just defacing, not permanent stuff) to add to my collection.


Someone doesn't like this gal. (Another of the rare graffiti cases I've seen in Seoul.)

On to the hookah. Andrea's bud, Jordan, was in town for the weekend so I met him in Itaewon for a brew or two. Lo and behold, Roy (who I met months back) was there as well, quite a surprise. Also there was Jordan's friend Kelly. Jordan's from Toronto (or The Centre of the Universe, as we Vancouverites call it) and is part Scottish but that didn't stop him from picking up some of the tab at the bar...maybe Korea is rubbing off on him. Sometimes it's weird hanging with Canadians now because it's always Dutch pay...I've gotten used to the "I'll-pay-here, you-get-the-next-one" thing so much it's odd to go back to the old ways. Anyhoo, Kelly is from Milwaukee and been here just 2.5 months--I noted that she has 2 weeks until she gets to the "I hate Korea" stage...but she seems pretty entranced by the place, we'll see. Roy is a Brit/Englishman, but I understand that his ancestors may have inter-bred with Scots (of which I have some in myself, so this is not totally non-PC of me).

After the suds Roy took us up, waaaay up, to the Ali Baba and we had some Vanilla hookah and coffee and tea. Not bad stuff. Ramadan is in full swing now so no booze served, but this was a good way to mellow on a Sunday evening.


Kelly and the Hookah


Yul Brenner, I mean Jordan, puffin' on the hookah.


Roy and his hookah.

Why no pic of me? No idea...but I did have the camera. I also didn't get a shot of Kelly puffing...that just seems a little to risque for this site.

Ok, you all know my fetish with Korean bathrooms. Here is the latest installment: straight from the Ali Baba.


Ali Baba Combi-Can...Ladies, please don't bump the men as you walk by.


You want me to turn that to flush? Ewwwww! Why can't they get one of them laser urinals in here?

Ok, that's enough for now. Time to start my Monday. Everyone coming to the VT Meeting on Saturday, I have directions up on the site now.